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Israeli Youths Refuse to Join "Racist" Army
JERUSALEM, Sept 6 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Sixty-two Israeli high school students said Thursday in a defiant open letter to the government that they refused to carry out "racist policy" by serving as Israeli soldiers in the Palestinian Occupied Territories, news agencies reported.
The letter addressed to Israel's hawkish prime minister Ariel Sharon, a copy of which was obtained by Agence France-Presse (AFP), denounced "the aggressive and racist policy pursued by the Israeli government and its army," adding, "we do not intend to take part in the execution of this policy."
"Land expropriation, arrests, executions without trial, house demolition, closure, torture and the prevention of health care are only some of the crimes the state of Israel carries out, in blunt violation of international conventions it has ratified," said the 62 teenagers who signed the letter, reported AFP.
"We will obey our conscience and refuse to take part in acts of oppression against the Palestinian people, acts that should properly be called terrorist actions," the letter added, calling on all conscripts and reservists to do the same.
The letter was published only days after Israel, backed by the United States, pulled out of a United Nations conference on racism in South Africa in protest at draft resolutions promoted by Arab countries condemning Israel's treatment of the Palestinians as racist.
From the age of 18, it is mandatory for young Israelis to serve in the army, boys for three years and girls for two. As reservists, they are then called upon for a month of military service each year until they are well into their forties.
According to the pacifist organization Yesh Gvul ("There is a limit", in Hebrew), 22 soldiers have been jailed since the al-Aqsa Intifada erupted 11 months ago for having defied the Israeli government's call to arms.
Conscientious objectors are most often condemned to renewable prison terms of 28 days.
In July, Israeli radio reported that an Israeli reservist was sentenced to 24 days in jail for refusing to serve in the Palestinian territories, illegally occupied by Israel since 1967.
Reserve sergeant Alex Liachs, a 26-year-old information technology student, was the 16th soldier to be sentenced for refusing to serve in the Israeli army since the start of the Intifada, or uprising, against Israeli occupation.
Ten other soldiers in the reserve have faced similar charges, and five regular soldiers have also faced prosecution, AFP reported.
On May 22nd, Israeli radio announced that the Israeli police-military leadership applied for an increase in budget in order to build a military prison to contain the increase in the number of imprisoned Israeli soldiers who refuse to serve in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
In a press conference held last May, an Israeli lawyer, Leia'h Tsimel, called on international human rights organizations and peace activists to release a communiqué calling on Israeli soldiers to refrain from carrying out "illegal" military orders against the Palestinians.
Oly Afenbery, Israeli movement leader for Peace Now, said the Palestinian uprising is not a wave of violence…it is a "legitimate war for independence."
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